Aspergillus oryzae atfB encodes a transcription factor required for stress tolerance in conidia

Using an Aspergillus oryzae EST database, we identified a gene encoding a transcription factor (atfB), which is a member of the ATF/CREB family. Expression of atfB was barely detectable during vegetative growth, but was readily detected during conidiation in solid-state culture. Microarray analyses showed that expression of many other genes, including catalase (catA), were downregulated in an atfB-disruptant. The expression of most of these genes was upregulated in the wild-type strain during the conidiation phase in solid-state culture, and the expression pattern was similar to that of atfB itself. In the absence of stress, e.g. heat-shock or hydrogen peroxide, the conidial germination ratios for the ΔatfB strain and the wild-type strain were similar, but the stress tolerance of conidia carrying the ΔatfB deletion was less than that of the wild-type conidia. CRE-like DNA motifs, which are bound by ATF/CREB proteins, were found in the promoters of most of the downregulated genes in the ΔatfB strain. Thus, atfB appears to encode a transcription factor required for stress tolerance in conidia.